The Present Disclosure relates, generally, to cable interconnection systems, and, more particularly, to improved cable assemblies for use in high speed data transmission applications.
Conventional cable interconnection systems are found in electronic devices, such as routers, servers and the like, and are used to form signal transmission lines. These transmission lines may extend between chip members and connectors, connectors in two different devices, and between devices themselves. Most often, differential signal wires are used for each such transmission line in a cable and, although it is easy to maintain a desired impedance profile along the length of the cable due to the cable geometry, it is difficult to maintain such a profile where the wire ends are terminated to a circuit board or paddle card. The wires are terminated to contact pads that are disposed on a surface of the circuit board. In such a situation, the exterior insulation is stripped back and the bare conductors are terminated to solder pads or the like. The contact/solder pads are elongated and are generally rectangular in shape, with one pad being associated with only one wire. This type of termination always has impedance discontinuities associated with it.
The Present Disclosure is therefore directed to a circuit board, or paddle card, for use with a cable assembly particularly suitable for high speed data transmission applications, and which includes an improved termination area that reduces the impedance discontinuity which occurs with the termination of cable wires to elongated rectangular contact pads located on the paddle card.